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“Only thine ashes shall depart this place! Scourge!!”

*SWOOSH!*

Crim swung down her scythe from high above, leaving behind a trail like a meteor. That strike was far more precise, swift, and powerful than any before it…

*”Grhah?! Akh…hah?!”*

It went straight through Bifrons’ enormous scythe and body, even as he attempted to block.

“Crim, did you…”
“Crim, what happened..?”

Frey and Freya watched perplexed. Their help was hardly needed as Crim fought against a boss all on her own, overpowering it.

*…I can reach him!*

She had that certainty, despite no reason to believe so. Her scythe was not long enough to cover that distance, and yet she swung…

*SHLUCK*

…A torrent of red light gushed out of the blade, increasing its reach and slicing off Bifrons’ arm.

*”Ghuh..?!”*

Bifrons attempted to counterattack, swinging his own scythe, but Crim dodged it at the last instant, rushing ahead to mow through his torso. His lower body detached, falling to the ground, while his upper body remained in the air. But then, just like a movie playing in reverse, both halves reunited again.

*”I knew it, that power…!”*

Even with his body put back together, with no trace of the cuts left, he appeared desperate…like he was being cornered.

Crim was also beginning to question things. She had no idea that she could extend her blade like earlier, she simply felt like she could do it.

The more striking change was her body, it felt light, like all the friction from earlier had vanished entirely. She could move as freely and quickly as she thought.

“Bifrons, it’s time…!”
*”No, not yet!”*

At his wits end, Bifrons quickly completed a chant, which Crim recognized as a summoning spell. Turning around in an instant, she leapt away from the zombie that appeared and tried to snatch her.

A moment later, the empty handed zombie exploded.

*”Impossible… What was that reaction speed, and those movements?!”*
“Eughh, not again…”

Bifrons’ words went unheard, as Crim mumbled with disgust and began mowing down the zombies with shockwaves from her sword. The zombies exploded right after being hit…but Crim was more worried about Frey and Freya.

Frey needed time to chant before he could attack, and Freya hardly had any means to attack. They were in a really bad position with so many zombies surrounding them, unless Freya used her AoE purifying spell Kyrie Eleison.

Crim still had the mental capacity to let Bifrons live a bit longer to save the twins… When another group rushed into the rooftop through the stairs.

“We’ll help defeat this devil as well! The Scarlet Demon Lord is not our enemy, be careful of friendly fire!!”

A knight in white armor and long blonde hair led the charge. He was the embodiment of a paladin, and the other players with him followed his orders.

“…And who art thou?”
“Hello, I’m Theodolite, the ruler of the Holy Kingdom…and the leader of the coup in this fort.”
“That was thee…?”

He held a hand to his chest as he bowed, and Crim’s eyes widened.

Suzaku had described him as Lawful Evil, someone obsessed with justice. But in person, he appeared like a rather amiable and reasonable young man. If anything, he was what the ideal paladin had to look like.

And yet…Crim could not shake off the feeling that something was off about him. That first impression was something she kept to herself. There were more important matters to settle.

“We might all be part of the Holy Kingdom, but please let us fight alongside you!”

Saying that, all the arriving players focused on fighting Bifrons’ zombies. The players staging the coup were far more motivated than those in the frontlines earlier.

“…Very well, just mind the explosions as they die. I appreciate the help.”

The blonde leader of the coup nodded in response.
Crim was not yet fully convinced by their presence, but she let them handle the zombies.

*”Why you… Ah, now it all makes sense. Humans truly are wicked and twisted in so many ways, all this was your plan from—”*

Bifrons tried to say something again, but was silenced by Theodolite’s blaze magic that burst in his face, also creating a smokescreen for Crim to attack again.

In a battlefield set for the United Kingdoms and Holy Kingdom to fight, they stood alongside each other. It was quite a strange sight, with Crim’s overwhelming power only adding to it… And in less than ten minutes their enemy was defeated, far too quickly for a raid boss…

***

#Afterword#
The details of Crim’s evolution will come later. She still hasn’t checked them herself, so she’s just fighting by instinct at the moment.